


Here there be Zombies!

by Stryfe



Series: Cablepool [3]
Category: Cable and Deadpool, Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Deadpool and his undending love for Nate, I regret everything and yet nothing, M/M, Mentions of Ms. Irene Merryweather, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombie obsession, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 13:30:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8802754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stryfe/pseuds/Stryfe
Summary: A giant zombie outbreak occurs and people are dying everywhere. Providence is just so quiet though, isn't it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All characters belong to their respective owners (Marvel, etc.). My stories may not be posted elsewhere or otherwise used or changed without my sole permission.

New York was a giant mess. Corpses of those spared from turning laid everywhere while the less fortunate fed on what remained. Zombies shambled through the streets, constantly searching for a new meal to sate their unending hunger. While the fall of New York had been much slower than other major cities around the world, even many of it's own heroes had fallen prey. Among those remaining were the last of the Avengers whose new job consisted of trying to cull many of the zombies wandering the city. The Avengers who had gone out on patrol sat only a few streets away from Tony Stark's giant building. 

_Bang, Bang, Bang!_ Deadpool fired off three shots from his gun, the resounding sound ringing out through the nearby streets. Wade cackled in glee, "It's like Left for Dead only we don't get infinite ammo!" 

"Wilson, I'm going to kill you if you shoot that gun one more time!" Tony snapped, intentionally firing a laser beam that glanced off Wade's shoulder.

"Ow! Cap, he's being mean to me. It's not fair, I tells ya. Like all those times Logan kept  _snicking!_ me in the brain. See? I even said that with fancy italics." Wade babbled, slicing off head after head from the new wave of zombies pouring in from the side streets. 

"Wade, stop." Steve stated firmly as he knocked a zombie's head clean off of its prior owner's shoulders. "We can't afford to have them pour out with all the sound that guns make unless we absolutely need to." 

"Bub, telling Wilson to stop is like telling North Korea to calm down before this whole infection took over. It ain't gonna work." Logan growled, slicing his way out of the zombies beginning to surround him. Too many zombies had begun to pour out of the surrounding streets, sending the Avengers to higher ground even as Wade kept slicing and dicing zombies in the midst of his new acrobatic routine.

"Hey! I can totally calm down. Just give me me the a O.K. to go get the essentials. By essentials, I mean send Logan out to get us beer. Hey, do you guys think the Golden girls is still on- Gah!" A sudden and familiar  _thwip_ had the Merc with a mouth flying into the side of a building, face first, as he was pulled up onto the rooftop. With the remaining Avengers, some of the last (If not  _the_ last) superheroes in New York, sitting down out of sight to rest. Steve's head leaned back against the heated stone as he panted, Tony sat cross-legged arms leaning back onto the edges of the plain parapets; Natasha patrolled around the edges of the building, remaining low but above the parapet. The last two, Logan and Spiderman, had plopped down onto the middle of the rooftop under the bright mid-day sun. 

"Spidey, if you wanted to cu~" Deadpool began in a sing song voice before Pete cut him off with webs to his mouth. Promptly following the beautiful silence was the sounds of Wade being webbed to the guard wall on the building. "MMMM. MMHM, NMM." 

"Heh, thanks kid." Logan said, smirking towards the now tied up mercenary. The next several minutes were composed of complete and utter silence, with occasional "mmphs!" from Wade, with no one wanting to move quite yet.

After a brief 10 minutes of resting on the building, Stark got up and had begun taking the Avengers back to his landing pad atop Stark Towers to avoid any unnecessary infections potentially spreading, before grudgingly dragging a wriggling Merc back to the tower with them. Grabbing his ankle, Stark hesitated before deigning to drag the Wade down 2 flights of stairs to the conference room. Steve, Logan, Peter, and Natasha all had found their places in the room. Tony dropped Wade onto the floor before he finally cut off the webbing restraining his arms. Tearing off Peter's... unusually sticky webbing from his mouth, Wade glared through his mask.

"I can get dragging me, but really? TWO flights of stairs Tony. TWO. I totally could have taken five. You offend my healing factor, more than that group of guys I took. I mean, what?"

Steve stared at Wade, pity for the madman evident in his eyes and tone, "Wade, this is serious. You can't go back to Providence, it's too dangerous there."

"Wait, I'm getting an intervention?! But I haven't used drugs or been an alcoholic like Stark yet!"

At that, Tony looked up to glare, refusing to stop pouring the whiskey into the small shot glass. Wade's pointed finger wagged in Stark's direction at the head of the table. "See? He isn't sharing. It's not alcoholism if you share, because then your friends make sure you don't drink and give messed up speeches."

The various shaking heads combined with Natasha's concerned face only agitated Wade. 

"You guys know Providence is perfectly safe. There aren't any Zombies there at all. I've told you guys this before, like, a lot. Hell, I've even spent the last few months cleaning it up. Not to mention it's an island. Made of metal. Perfectly safe." Wade tried to reason. 

"Wade, you know that's not what we mean at all." Steve spoke softly, "We've seen videos of it, you did a good job on making it cleaner, but you and Cable are all alone there. Why don't you leave Cable and just come stay at the tower? We can help you a lot better here Wade, instead of you having to travel back and forth. We  _need_ you here." Hesitatingly standing up, Steve walked over to Wade, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Travel isn't an issue though, Cap. I teleport back and forth. You guys call me and I come, besides, I can't leave Nate alone. This is too much for him to get through alone." Wade shrugged off the comforting hand, gaze falling to the floor as he thought about Nate. Poor Nate had been so stressed, working night and day to find some sort of cure for the newest world problem. Even worse, Wade remembered him trying out all the Askani tech he had, with no positive results. That had made Nate even sadder than Wade could have ever thought he'd could get. All Nate wanted to do is save the world and now this stupid infection had to spread and hurt his precious Nate. Feeling his fists clenching and his chest squeezing, Wade remembered to breath. Wade would figure something out for Nate, he had to, because this way Nate would love him more than anything and Wade could finally get Nate to come to the beach with him. 

"Bruce, cures yet?" Tony look up at the ceiling. 

"No Tony. This will take time, send Peter to me in the lab." Came the crackling reply. Pushing himself off the wall in the corner, Peter walked out silent, gazing at Wade one last time before shutting the door.

"Wade, Cable is a lost cause. He can't help anyone now by hiding on Providence." Steve prodded further. 

"Shut up. Shuptupshutupshutup!" Wade screamed, "Nate's done more than you assholes so far, he's trying to save the world from it's own stupid infection!" Quickly putting in the coordinates, Wade teleported away in a flash of red and black leaving the room deathly silent. 

"... We need to do something about him Steve." Logan remarked gruffly, staring down at the table. 

"What can we do Logan, except hope Wade realizes the truth?" Steve replied with a sad smile.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The entire island of Providence was silent as Wade walked through it. It had changed a lot from it's starting point of pieces of ruined papers flowing here, doors off their hinges and belongings strewn across the street. In the few months since the outbreak, Wade had gotten to cleaning the place up, hoping to give Nate something to smile about. In the beginning, it had given Nate a lot to smile about. He had hugged Wade tight against him, thanking him for cleaning up his precious island. He'd been so happy that Nate hadn't even commented on Wade just throwing all of the junk in the ocean with the bodies. Wade had gone through every house on Providence, cleaning up the insides of houses and putting what he could back in place. The only problem now that was worse than the silence and ruined murals was the deafening silence Nate always gave him now. He honestly couldn't blame Nate for it either. After trying to save the world once, he couldn't prevent or cure the current zombie outbreak that had occurred which meant Nate's dream and deepest desire of saving the world was completely ground into dust. Wade hated the silence even more, walking past Irene's former desk. The poor woman had been mauled by an infected person against that very desk. Even though Wade had long since removed her and cleaned up the blood, the memories of playfully harassing Miss Merryweather remained painfully strong now that she was gone. Walking past her desk and into the hallway leading up to the door of Nate's personal quarters filled Wade with feelings of dread instead of the mushy stomach flutters he normally felt for Nate. It wasn't that Wade of all people had stopped loving Nate, it was more of feeling hope dying. Nate wouldn't continue on like this forever, it was taking too big of a toll on him for that. How could Wade fix his precious Cable? 

Pausing before the door, Wade remembered how bad the start of the Zombie Apocalypse had been for Nate. People had fled Providence after one carrier had been brought aboard without anyone knowing. The young woman, snarky even for someone of her age, had infected her own kids and shortly thereafter been shot down to contain the infection. While she had bitten a few others, no one trusted Nate to keep them quarantined. People had freaked out and most had left despite the rest of the world fighting the infection too. Even now those who remained of groups like Avengers, The Fantastic Four, the X-Men and super villains like Dr. Doom were trying to find a cure while killing off the infected. 

"Not getting paid for overtime must  _bite_ ," Wade muttered to himself, pushing open the door. "Isn't that right, Priscilla?" 

Even though Wade always felt giddy at the prospect of killing zombies (Hello, who doesn't like seeing zombie heads explode? It was like shooting Nazi zombies when he'd gone to Germany that one time! Yolo!) he would have ended it even if it meant permanently dying just to save Nate from what had happened to him. Nate had gotten so pale, and been so silent ever since it had occurred. Nate wasn't eating good either, even with all the food and clean water Wade constantly brought him. He hadn't said a word in several weeks, and was more often than not gripping the railing and looking out over the balcony. Sleep, eat, sleep, eat. It had become the same simple routine over and over and over. It was  _killing_ Nate not to be able to save the hundreds of people dying every day.

"Well, Priscilla, news from my new mission with the Avengers. Steve and Tony still wanna fuck each other -And while I totally ship Stony too- they've gotten more angst filled than Spiderman on a bad day. Zombies still on the rise, and Victoria still won't tell me her secrets!"

At the sound of his voice, Nate had turned around and started walking towards him. Grabbing Wade's arms, Nate pushed him onto the bed and started removing his spandex shirt and weapons. "Hey, woah there Prissy! I know you missed me over the past week but you don't want to remove those grenade pins. Might blow a hole here in Providence with how many I got stashed in all these dark, moist places." Wade rambled laying back on the bed and relaxing. 

Nate straddled him, licking and nipping his chest before settling in to add a few hard bites intertwined with kisses. 

"......."

"Nate, don't worry. I won't leave you. Not until you get better, I  _promise_. "

"......."

The pleasant sensations got a bit more desperate at that sentence as Nate slid his T.O. arm around Wade's waist, and the other on his back just at the base of his neck. 

"You know Nate, I found a hostess truck today. Thought 'bout bringing you along as Tallahassee, while I play that sexy Wichita! Only, instead of those jeans and shirt she has, I'd put on my french maid outfit for you." Wade purred.

"......"

By now, blood was flowing down Wade's sides as it rushed to join the rest of the older blood stains on the messy bed.

"I really am sorry you know... I was gone for a full week this time, seeing if they had a cure for you yet. I left you starving for a whole week." He murmured, the last few words turning into a slur as the effects of blood loss started to hit again. 

The only response from his precious love and best friend was to pull him closer and voraciously bite into yielding flesh again and again. Nate was now devouring him, last of his reserve gone again. The blood poured like a small river down his jaw as took his first bite out of Wade's heart again.

"I'm so sorry Nate, so, so, so  **sorry**. S'all my fault Nate, but I'll take care of you. I'll make you better..." Wade sobbed amidst gasps of pain. As Nate took more bites out of what remained of heart and chest, the tension bled out of Deadpool's muscles with one last sobbing gasp: "I'm  ** _sorry_**..."

 


	2. Chapter 2

♪  _Stand up, every body look alive_ ♪

Wade was laying on Nate's bed, blood soaking the sheets and floors again. His entire chest cavity had been eaten again, and now Nate was full.

♪  _Said Come on Come on Come on, We gonna get it it now_  ♪

It really sucked having to clean the blood up from the bed and floor, over and over again. Wade hated cleaning before; Doing it over and over again didn't help. Why did Nate have to be such a messy eater?

♪ _Hands up if you're ready for a fight, Said Come on Come on Come on_ ♪

Wade couldn't speak. Nate must'a eaten his vocal chords again. Wade was realllly sure Nate had actually taken bites out of his arms and legs this time for being gone so long. They did feel kinda numb. Had Nate been mad at him?

♪  _We gonna win it now, I don't need you to believe in me_ ♪

Ooooh! One of his fingers twitched! Woohoo! Wade could feel his fingers again. Sometimes, Wade really loved his healing factor. His neck creaked ominously as Wade forced his head turned to the left where Nate stood at the balcony again. Broody Nate never paid attention to him anymore.

♪  _I know how to change my destiny; Sit down, about to rewrite out history, rewrite our history, rewrite our history_ ♪

Huh, Wade couldn't help but wonder what went through Nate's head nowadays. Clearly, talking to his best friend wasn't at the top anymore. Buuuuut, on the bright side of this whole zombie infection business was that Domino was dead! Hehehe, Domino had been killed by a horde of zombies in Russia... And then those Zombies had been killed by the wildlife. In Russia, natural environment wins. Always.

♪  _We can change the whole world, Gonna take it over♪_

Flexing his newly regenerated hands, Wade helped to push himself up. Meh, his chest was *almost* done regenerating too. Dried blood flecks fell off of his arms as he flexed them and happily cracked his neck. His pants were a mess (Ha!) and... Wade totally called it! Nate had ripped off pieces from the bottom half of Wade's uniform and bitten chunks out of his thighs and calf muscles. Well, his pants could have been in a worse condition than this. At least they still covered the important bits there, and Nate had taken off his shirt and weapons! Which meant he didn't have to replace those at all.

♪ _Gonna start it over, Don't you know what we could be?_ ♪

Standing up still hurt a like bitch, which even the nice hot shower Wade took didn't help (His lungs and general chest area were still healing, which meant burning water on his internal organs. Note to self: No more baths while chest is healing). Stepping out of the shower and drying off (Nate would bitch at him if he left water on the floor, silent or not. He swore Nate would always get this look like he knew what mess Wade had left whenever he didn't clean stuff up). 

"So, Nate ol' buddy. What's on the agenda today? Playing in the lab? How about the Pope's personal quarters? I'll play the part of innocent schoolboy if you want. How about a schoolboy in a maid's dress?" Wade remarked conversationally. At the sound of his voice, Nate visibly twitched, but made no move to part from his current spot at the railing.

♪  _A new beginning, Fight until we're winning_ ♪

Getting on his hands and knees, Wade started scrubbing whatever blood stains he could from the bed and its surroundings. The chemicals and 2 buckets of water he had near his legs weren't helping much. Picking up the blankets on the bed, Wade finally made use of the second water bucket as he washed out the blood stains he could. Sad thing about blood stains: They liked settling into the clothing permanently. Wade never did regenerate in time to actually save the fabrics from perma-stains. Nate took too long to eat for him to completely save them, but he could always manage to get the worst of them out. 

"Nate, you could make yourself useful and turn my phone off for me. I don't feel like answering the Avengers today. They never actually stop calling on days like these, do they? You realize what they say about you, dont'cha Nate? They think you're a lost cause just cause you're so exhausted. What they don't know is they're wrong; We all know you Nate, you don't stop thinking about ways to find a cure!" 

The scrubbing Wade was doing grew manic, even as his voice went slightly higher, words falling out faster than usual. His heart was pounding and Wade couldn't breathe fast enough to draw in air. 

♪  _Tell me that you're in it_ ♪

"Come on Naaate. You promised you'd help me more. Well, you actually just stood there, but I told you if you stayed silent it meant you were agreeing! And you STAYED silent! At least start screaming at me "I am Nate." Hah, see what I did there?"

"....."

"Nate, didn't I tell you to see Guardians of the Galaxy? It had a talking raccoon, you know, and he knew how to use weapons! We could'a sold him to the circus for a huge profit."

The bloody water sloshed around as Wade violently churned the inside from scrubbing too hard. Leaning his head against the other side of the bucket furthest from him, Wade tried to calm down. Wade had never had this kind of problem before Nate had stopped talking to him. Now, his body freaked out after every time Nate ate some food. Even now Wade felt his entire body trembling while his hands were frozen beneath the surface of the bloodied water, clutching the sheets. 

♪  _Don't you wanna be a superhero, a superhero, a superhero_ ♪ 

Fuck this. Wade was tired of it; The Avengers needed to stop calling him. Wade had to take care of Nate. He'd left Nate starving an entire week, and this was the result. His body panicking all because he'd done this to Nate; Left him starving for a week, just like every other time those Avengers asked him on a mission. Whenever Wade came back from their missions, the trembling always got worse. Maybe he should just stop leaving Nate and the trembling would stop. 

Picking up a clean rag and clothes, Wade walked over to wash all the blood from Nate's body and put him in clean clothes. 

"What are you doing to keep your T.O. in check now Prissy? Taking those new vitamins? Oh, wait a sec! I bet you bought that sham-wow from the commercial. T.O. metal always loves being all buffed up and fancy, don't it? Hell, even in your blood cells, I bet just buffing up arm up to shining perfect keeps the rest of it in check, right?" 

All that was left was Nate's face. Washing the rag in the sink one more time, Wade walked back to the balcony and began gently scrubbing the dried blood off. Nate refused to move, passively staring out over Providence. 

Tossing the rag into the bucket with the sheets, Wade turned right back to Nate and grabbed him in a hug, hands sliding under Nate's fresh shirt. Wade's head laid just above Nate's heart:  _Ba-bum... Ba-bum... Ba-bum._ His heart was still beating kind of slow. Maybe it was just Wade, but it felt kind of chilly out here on the balcony. It wasn't like he had anything aside from boxers on now. Maybe it was just because Nate was chilly. Should Wade get him a jacket? Standing out here all day must be chilling him to the bone; Maybe that's why Nate was never warm anymore. 

♪ _Don't you wanna be a superhero, a superhero, a superhero_ ♪

"Priiissyy," Wade whispered, "For a conversation to work, you have to talk you know." 

"...."

"Come on, don't make me call your hot mother and tell her how mean you're being."

"....."

"I dream of Jeanie, Cable. At night. All the time really. More than I dream about you?"

"...."

"... Nate, you know I'm lying, right? Come on, laugh for me... Hit me.  _Something?_  Nate, you know I wouldn't ever cheat on you. You know me, T.O. kink combined with white haired buff guy kink. Only War from Darksiders could ever hope to hold a candle to ya, but lets be honest here Nate: he doesn't have your _shining_ personality. Probably a huge relationship deal breaker there."

"...."

"Get it Nate, shining? Like your metal T.O. arm cause it's shiny?"

Squeezing tighter, Wade could feel his legs trembling violently even as he closed his eyes. Why weren't his boxes talking to him at least? They'd gone silent as soon as Nate had stopped talking, leaving his own head horribly silent. Maybe they were just sad Nate was so stressed out too.

♪  _Anyone could be_ ♪

A burst of giggles erupted from someone. Nate hadn't moved, it couldn't have been him. But then again, Wade hadn't told a joke, had he? It sounded like he had laughed but everything was silent, including Wade now. Was that phone still ringing?

♪  _Anyone could be_ ♪ 

It WAS still ringing. Why wouldn't the Avengers just leave him and Nate alone? Nate was trying to figure out how to save the world here and the Avengers just kept taking him away from Nate. Once they'd convinced Wade to leave Nate for 2 entire weeks. Nate had been left so lonely then and so hungry. Nate wouldn't get food anymore unless Wade brought it to him. Why didn't Steve and everyone else understand that just because they wanted him now when everything had gone to shit doesn't mean he was just gonna come running. Offering him an Avenger's membership wasn't gonna change Wade's mind, not when Nate needed him more.

♪ _Anyone could be_ ♪ 

The phone finally fell silent as Wade continued to hold onto Nate tight. Mmmm, Nate always smelled good; That same Nate-y smell always helped him to calm down too. Broken laughter began to echo through the room and out in the air on Providence. Nate would be ok, Nate always made it out of things like this perfectly fine. 

"Hehehe... Ha. Ha ha ha ha ha!" The trembling had gotten a lot shakier; And wetter. Wait! Nate must be moving now, and in the rain too? Why was the rain only hitting Wade's face then? And if Nate was moving now, then was he trembling as badly as Wade's body was?


	3. Lonely without you

_Food._ His only companion at the moment was the silence that rang out throughout the streets. Memories of where people had played, lived, thrived… Now all gone. The sense of nostalgia swept through him again and it was like his body was eating itself from the inside out. Was he just that hungry or was his body deigning to eat itself now?

_Food._ His home was ruined. Staring out the open window didn’t help the pain he felt. Was he infected maybe? Had it just been that long since he had eaten? God, he couldn’t remember for the life of him. A Zombie Apocalypse had broken out and turned this world into hell. An all too realistic version where he’d seen people eating their lover’s hearts out, children attacking their siblings… And he had watched as the last of the major defenses in the world fell. Now, all that was left were a few groups of heroes too overworked to make a big difference in the unending hordes.

_Food._ Maybe he should try to find supplies. That would help, wouldn’t it? It would make the gnawing pain in his stomach finally leave him alone again. If only he could move without feeling as if his body would give way the moment he moved his hands from their supporting position; then he might be able to ease the burning sensations with a drink or maybe a bath. Could he trust the water now though? Could the infection spread through water? Or was it just the bite that would potentially bring you back as one of them? He couldn’t recall being bitten, so maybe it had found another way to spread. It was worse than the black plague, moving fast and taking you down even faster. The longer your body held out against the infection, the worse it got. It slowly took over your body until all that was left was your dying consciousness, watching you kill everyone around you. Your leftover corpse then became one with _them_ ; where any sound caught _their_ attention because the hunger _didn’t end._ But wait, _their_ bodies kept rotting while his didn’t…? If he was a zombie then his body should be rotting by now. A subtle warmth spread through him or maybe it was the fever getting higher. He wasn’t a zombie; not yet at least.

_Food._ Had his best friend fallen to these monsters too? He could remember something about having a friend somewhere; someone who keeps taking care of him while fever raged inside his body when he had laid on a bed for the longest time. Someone who loved him. Did _he_ know that everything was hurting again? Every time he came back, _he_ brought something to dull the pain and make it disappear for a while. _He_ gave him something to drink and eat that made it all go away somewhere else until _he_ left to go do more things in the world outside their home. He could rely on that though, couldn’t he? The one constant in his life anymore, the same one who broke the silence and constantly said “ _I love you_ ” and “ _You’ll get better, I promise_ ” while comforting hands warmed his often too cold body. That’s what he wanted right now; that precious embrace and soft, warm words.

_Food._ Perhaps ironically enough, winter was approaching. It represented death, loneliness, and despair all of which were appropriate for the end of the world as everyone knew it. Appropriate for all the people dying still every day. But even outside in chilly air (Which smelled so smoky. What were the pillars of smoke he could barely see caused by?), his body felt like it was on fire. Not the usual comfortable warmth he felt when _he_ was around. The feeling of fever had yet to go down still and no one had told him it would be this bad when you’re left alone and sick; helpless when no one was there to take care of you. Would _he_ be mad about him being up? _He_ had slipped a jacket on him before _he_ ’d left this time. The same red jacket smelled of _him._ Such a comforting smell in these times too. One of his most favorite colors because of _him._ His best friend had loved cooking before this outbreak had occurred. Had been excellent at it too; you could always see him in the kitchen, experimenting, while all the spices _he_ would use burned their delightful scents into _his_ skin and clothing.

_Food._ He could see _him_ now: standing in the kitchen, singing horribly off tune, but every second of that ear bleeding sound had been precious too him. He had never told _him_ just how much he loved _him_ ; had never caressed _his_ skin and had _him_ writhing beneath in pleasure. Was that going to be one of his last regrets, never being able to tell _him_ how he felt? While fever, pain and hunger from the lack of food ravaged his body, would he ever be able to see and tell _him_ about this exciting revelation? His pride had kept him from it before and wouldn’t this time. A silent promise to try to make the words come out amidst the illness ravaging his body: he would tell _him_ everything.

_Food._ How much longer until _he_ came back? The pain was getting only kept increasing and he had no idea how long he had been alone. It felt like an eternity or three had slipped by while he’d been waiting though. 

_Clink……. Clink……. Clink……._

_Food._  Noises that had started from the hallway were getting louder. He hadn’t been left alone after all! That had to be _him_ coming back. All the beautiful scents carried ahead of him, mixed with the delightful smell of gunpowder. Good, he hadn’t become zombie food yet. He could almost hear it already: the delightful _Demi Moore_ voice humming and greeting him with a “ _Honey, I’m home!_ ”, those warm hands caressing him and making the chill leave his body after he had eaten to make the pain and fever go away.

_Food._ He could feel his mouth watering still; the single desire consuming his mind again. The soft creak of a door opening seemed to give his body strength to move again with how easily he turned around to see the love of his life.

“Honey, I’m hooooooome! Did you know I finally have footage of the Stony relationship that we can sell on T.V to be rich and retire to the Caribbean?”

“I was gone longer this time…” His soft voice rumbled as his body moved forward, dropping guns and _His_ favorite set of swords onto the ground, “Three weeks. It was painful wasn’t it…? ‘M sorry _Nate.”_

_Food._ Nate could feel his body moving at long last to the same spot where he cuddled Wade every time. All of Wade’s weapons on the ground, trailing towards the bed only to end abruptly short of it. Mmm, Nate’s mouth was aching to have a bite of food; his body certainly hadn’t waited to push Wade onto the bed and start gently removing Wade’s clothing. Nate’s body ached so badly; this had to be the longest Wade had ever left him alone. To be left all alone on Providence… That scared Nathan the most now. 

_Food._ His voice still wouldn’t work. Couldn’t make his vocal chords speak the three little words he desperately wanted to tell Wade. He had to keep trying though. Peppering soft kisses across little pieces of Wade’s chest, Nate could feel how delightfully warm Wade’s body felt. And the sound of that precious beating heart? Worth so much more because it beat for him only; Wade had told Nate this so many times now. Nate could hear something ripping again while something warm flowed against his lips and face. Something about this food always felt wrong, but Nate honestly couldn’t place _what_ was wrong anymore. Had he ever known what was wrong with the food Wade always brought him to start with?

A soft sob accompanied by a hiccup resounded just above his head. “’M **_sorry_** Nate. I was gone for so long and I didn’t mean to be.”

Why was Wade apologizing? It wasn’t his fault. More ripping sounds echoed against Nate’s ears until his lips found something that felt so… **delightful** against them, almost like someone was tickling him again. _Ba-bum… Ba-bum… Ba-bum…_ It vibrated funny against Nate’s lips while a feeling of uncontrollable excitement flooded into Nate’s mind. Biting into whatever odd food was tickling his lips so was heaven; the taste absolutely incomparable to anything else. A nice warm liquid rapidly poured from the quickening vibrations that made the tickling sensation increase. Nate couldn’t help but smile, giggle almost at the gentle but fast sensations, even though Wade’s sobs and gentle hiccups were so wrong.  But how could Wade not be happy? Wade had finally come back to him after _so long._

“ _I **love** you Nate… so much.”_ Wade’s trembling voice said, sadness lacing the warmth of the words, even as the pleasant tickling sensation against his lips slowly fluttered to a stop. Why was Wade always so sad?

“ _Wade…_ ” Nate managed to breathe out in-between bites of warm liquid and tasty food. Oh, would you look at that? Nate had finally managed to get his voice working again! Maybe now when Wade woke up from being so tired, Nate could tell Wade just how much he loved him.    


	4. Intervention, now!

If you had seen Providence before the outbreak, seen it as a beautiful thriving island, then now it would have been eerily silent like an abandoned graveyard during the night shift. Which mostly meant you expected something to jump out at you from a hidden corner. Except Providence, like before, was still the pinnacle of beauty and peace. The metal streets were clean of any blood and peeking into the houses showed no signs of anything wrong. Aside from a few missing things, like a door or two, or a ruined mural, it was like Providence had simply been abandoned instead of a slaughter occurring of the people who had refused to leave their peaceful island home. Not a single shambling corpse and blood stain had been seen as the Avengers strolled through the quiet streets.

“What are you guys doing here?” Wade’s shocked voice echoed. The orange pumpkin he’d been painting on the wall, looking barely half finished, at least offered some sort of festive cheer that was long since gone everywhere else.

Steve couldn’t help but stare at Wade while trying to muster a smile. Aside from his usual mask, Wade was wearing clothing that looked far too big for him, especially if you counted the fact he was actually wearing a belt to keep the large brown khaki pants up. His feet were bare and the short sleeved white shirt was tucked into the pants neatly. Amusing enough until you saw him stand up from his hunched over position: His clothes were bloody and torn as if he’d been mauled by a zombie himself.

“Wade… We came to check up on you. We haven’t seen you for several weeks, son.” Steve replied softly.

There was a nasty edge to Wade’s tone when he responded. “Yeah, well, I told you guys I’m not coming on more missions. Leave me n’ Nate alone.”

Glancing at his fellow Avengers didn’t help with any answer to that. They all looked just as confused as Steve himself was about Wade’s clothes and his increasingly odd behavior over Nate during this whole outbreak. Aside from Wade’s worsening mental state, something was wrong about this whole scenario. Very, very wrong. When Nathan had dropped off the face of the world, Steve had already known why: He’d been infected. Whether Cable had died or found a way to hold off, however, none of the Avengers knew. Most communication lines were dead and heroes had a hard time communicating much less keeping in touch to make sure everyone was still alive and Steve couldn’t bring himself to believe Wade had had fun playing dress up for Halloween like that either.

Wade had been fighting them hard against leaving Providence or Nathan (if anything remained of him) for any period of time for weeks but Steve wasn’t giving up without a fight this time. “Wade, son. You know today is Halloween, right? We figured we’d spend it with you.”

Wade looked incredibly torn over this offer; like he desperately wanted the companionship as much as he wanted to refuse it. “Mmm, Zombie ‘Pocalypse must’ve hit you guys hard to want to spend it with lil’ ol’ me.”

“Well, it was either that or Steve and Logan would keep giving me shit on my supposed alcoholism. They haven’t let that damn joke of yours go away, and Steve found a couple of my… caches of alcohol. Said if I didn’t share, they’d start using the essentials to the burn zombies.” Tony offered, showing off one of the clinking bottles from the cases he held in his arms.

Snorting hard, Wade crossed his arms over his chest, and finally relented with a more than a little hint of desperation in his voice. “Fine, but leave Nate alone. He isn’t… in a good mood today.”

Steve honestly doubted it would be hard to avoid Cable. They hadn’t see hide nor hair of him since entering Providence. The last time they’d talked, Cable's infection had been worsening. He’d said as much himself, stating his would try to find a cure or way to prevent further spread of it. Wade couldn’t shake himself out of the denial though because he had refused to leave Providence or Cable even at the Avenger’s constant requests and Cable begging him to. Whether Cable was truly dead or the one who’d possibly bitten Wade, Steve honestly couldn’t be sure. The only thing any of the Avengers were sure of was that Wade’s state of mind had been coming dangerously close to an edge he wouldn’t recover from after Nathan had fallen prey to it.

“Of course, Wilson. S’not like we need to disturb his beauty rest.” Logan’s gruff voice spoke out. The man hadn’t hesitated in picking up 2 beers to bring for himself and Wade while he walked over and sat promptly on the ground.

The relief in Wade’s body was all too obvious when he sat back down and accepted the beer from Logan, pulling his mask up just above his mouth. While Tony gently placed the clinking cases down, everyone took some time to sit down and get comfortable.

Although Wade turned back to the wall to continue his growing pumpkin painting, his silence was unnerving. Perhaps the worst part about Nathan getting taken had to be Wade’s growing period of silences. The man’s insanity had never allowed for periods of silence like this; His excessive healing factor had always given him too much energy, the pain never letting him rest. Now, the silence was becoming all too common.

“So, Wilson, heard any news about Pornhub?”

“No.”

“How about anything involving maids?”

“No.”

“New York is doing better Wilson. The last time you were there, we broke through one of the hordes.”

“Awesome.”

“I got a hot tub at the tower.”

“Nate likes hot tubs.” Wade remarked softly, a wistful sigh leaving his lips.

Coughing against his fist slightly, Peter rushed to interrupt Tony’s next question. “So, Wade, did you know there is a type of spider called a Peacock spider?”

“Ha, you said Pea.”

“This is going to be booby trap all over again, isn’t it Wade?”

“In all honesty bug boy, probably. Also, ha, you said trap.”

Wade’s answers were too short. Much too short to offer Steve any hope that Wade could come to terms with whatever Cable’s fate might have been.

“Mmm, hey Peter.”

“Yes Wade?” Aside from Wade’s shock at seeing them on Providence for the first time, this was the first time in awhile that Wade had initiated some sort of conversation.

“I, uh, yes Wade?”

“Are those spiders you mentioned pretty?”

“Of course! I mean, don’t get me wrong, they’re super tiny being only about four millimeters in length but they have this flap that goes over their abdomen and it’s extremely colorful, like a peacock’s tail feathers. Kinda sucks that they only live in part of Australia though.”

“Think Nate would be cheered up by tiny peacock spiders?”

“Anyone would love some peacock spiders Wade. Gotta make sure you get the males though, because they’re the colorful ones.” Peter choked out. Broaching the topic of Nate around Wade required extreme delicacy otherwise the Merc had become prone to blowing up on people.  Maybe they could find out what had happened to Cable if they were careful.

“So, how has Cable been Wade?” Steve ventured, hoping to get some sort of update.

“…I- He’s been fine…”

“That’s good. Any progress on a cure from his side? I bet he and Bruce could compare notes, huh?” Steve offered, hoping the forced cheer didn’t sound as bad as he thought.

Sticking his paint brush into the black paint, Wade began swirling little black eyes for the pumpkin. “He’s been mostly sleeping and eating. He hasn’t felt well in a while.”

Steve didn’t know what was worse: The fact that Wade might be catching on to the knowledge that Cable had been infected, had possibly killed his zombified best friend and was in denial about it, that Cable **isn’t** as dead as they assumed and Wade’s been his food or that Cable wasn’t infected, was in fact dead, and Wade couldn’t bring himself away from his best friend’s corpse. Too many possibilities with too many bad outcomes.

“Do you think it might be a cold or the Flu Wade?” Bruce offered. “We do have medicine still that could help.”

Wade emptied his beer before continuing to speak. “Nah, don’t use up your supplies. There’s a bunch a stuff here on Providence too. I think Nate is just depressed. Like, super depressed.”

Well, Steve couldn’t say he didn’t know it would be difficult to get Wade to admit anything in a way that couldn’t offer several possibilities.

“So, you think Nathan might want to join us for a beer Wade?”

Pursed lips and popping the lid off another beer was Wade’s only response to Steve’s inquiry. He seemed determined to about something, Steve would give him that much.

The awkward silence continued for what felt like it could have been hours before Peter tried his hand to break the silence. “So, did you dress up as Cable for Halloween Wade? Gotta say, some silver paint and a yellow light bulb for your left eye and you’d be spot on.”

“Huh,” Wade said, sounding breathless. “I… That’s actually a good idea. Well, except the light bulb. I’ve been shocked enough to know it needs energy to glow, so maybe like… Some glow in the dark yellow paint? Oooo, and I need a short white wig then. Unless I’m going to do Cablepool except I need pouches for that one.” Wade started humming, the closest to genuine excitement that Steve had heard from him in a long while.

“Of course, those are all good ideas Wade. But are you supposed to be a zombie Cable? Your clothes look like someone got some blood on them and they are a _bit_ torn.” Natasha asked, knowing full well she was treading into dangerous territory.

The tension that had bled out of his body returned full force as Wade glared at her through his mask. His voice when Wade finally deigned to speak to her was cold and adamant. “It’s paint that I spilled and this set of clothes is old. Got ripped when I was cleaning Providence up. And for your information, no, Nate isn’t a zombie so fuck off Romanov. Yes, I know what you were getting at and ‘m pretty sure it’s time for the rest of you to leave too cause I’m spending the rest of the day with Nate.” Standing up, Wade began walking away leaving his big orange pumpkin and all of his paints and brushes behind.

“Wilson, stop right there.” Logan growled.

“We only want what is best for you and the rest of the world Wade. You can’t be so focused on Cable anymore. **_He. Is. Dead._** Wade!” Bruce cried out, standing up with Steve. At the sound of that, Wade froze before sharply turning on his heels to face them again.

When he next spoke, pain and fury filled his voice. “Go away. Nate isn’t dead, I’ve seen him. He. Is. Alive. Unlike you bastards he can fix this, I know he can. Someone needs to take care of him until he feels well enough to time travel or something though, otherwise everyone really will die. So go away and don’t come back. _Leave_ _us alone._ ” The desperation and pain were all that echoed in the last few words. Wade’s arms were wrapped tightly around his body for any protection they could give as he continued back through the lonely streets towards Nathan’s office and house.

“Steve…” Logan began “Do you honestly think we can convince him otherwise now? He can’t accept the truth, is now refusing to leave Providence and won’t talk to us unless we force him to.” He hadn’t moved at all since he’d sat down.

“He’s lonely.” Natasha noted. “Wade might be insane, but there is a difference between insanity and _insanity_ Logan. Wade can control his insanity to a point… Can even act sane at times. But if we leave him completely alone then the forced insanity he has because of his healing factor? That will just snap into an _insanity_ no one can recover from.”

“Should we just drug him and force him to come to terms with things?” Tony chirped, taking another heavy drink from his bottle.

Shaking his head, Bruce ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t… advise it. Forcing Wade to come to terms with Cable’s fate might just break him all the same as if we leave him completely alone.”

“We may have no other option though.” Steve concluded. Deciding to leave the beer for Wade, Steve led the Avengers through the park. The autumn leaves falling made for a beautiful, if not sad, scene. Turning back one last look at Cable’s house, Steve turned around towards the jet again and froze in his steps. Doing a double take, Steve couldn’t help but stare on the man at the balcony attached to Cable’s room. His legs were spread apart slightly while hands gripped the railing as he looked out over Providence _watching_ them.

“Steve, what’s wrong?” Tony asked, poking his chest.

That white hair and metal hand? The glow from his eye? The bloody face and clothes? Steve’s breathing began to quicken.

“Do all of you see the man on the balcony or is it me?” Steve asked, voice trembling. If he wasn’t the only one seeing this… A bloodied Cable on that balcony… Then there really was only one option about what was going on here at Providence between Wade and Cable.

“Steve, what… Oh shit.” Tony finished. “Am I the only one seeing the huge bloodstains on Cable’s clothes?”

“No, you aren’t.” Bruce concluded grimly.

“I think we need to talk to Wade a little more Steve. We need to get him off this island.” Natasha spoke, voicing the unspoken thoughts of everyone else.

In all the time they’d spent after Wade had begun walking away, from walking to staring at a _zombified_ Cable, Wade must have made it back to Cable’s room. Cable’s head turned around first, as far as it could, before his body began moving back into his room towards what surely must’ve have been a door opening.


	5. Origins of the Zombie plague, Part 1

Earth ZOM8135

Providence, Midnight of All Hallows' Eve

Watcher’s notes: Plague from ZOM8135 can no longer be used to cure the virus on Earth Marvel. Mutation has occurred, so far to the benefit of the multiverse, preventing the zombies from retaining their prior selves. Interestingly, only those with considerable healing factors can resist this new mutation but exposure to the new mutation has rendered them immune to both the current strain and the original virus. Perhaps the situation will resolve itself.

 

* * *

 

_Wade,_

_It’s been a while... I hope this note finds you well and safe from the infection. I have a favor to ask of you, though, one that just might end this virus for good. Meet me in my room on Providence._

_I’ll be waiting,_

_Cable_

“Wade, you came.” Wade couldn’t help but to shudder at hearing Cable’s deep timbre. God, it had been far too long since his Priscilla itch had been satisfied, and the zombie plague had only made it feel longer.

“That’s what she said, Priscilla,” Wade snickered, stepping off of his perch at the balcony and taking his first steps into Nathan’s room. The only light source came from a single candle on the table near the balcony doors.

An amused sound rumbled from Nathan’s chest as he stood from his chair, located near the other side of the room. “I would hope that isn’t what she said. You belong to me after all.” The darkness didn’t hide the glow of his left eye, as Cable walked a few long steps forward, almost, but not quite, at the corner of his bed.

“Oh really?” Wade teased, holding his hands behind his back, leaning his chest towards Nathan.

_Did you hear that?! Cable called us his! Go feel up his ass!_

**Or… we could leave. Isn’t it odd that the room is completely dark, save for the one candle? That Cable hasn’t stepped any further out of the darkness?**

“Wade, come here,” Nathan’s metal arm lifted up, only to crook a finger at Wade. “I… it’s been awhile. Before we go any further, I want to spend a bit of personal time with you. Would you mind?”

Wade could feel his mouth going dry, even as his body shuddered and his hands opened and closed. The sudden image of Nathan laying on top of his white bed with dark blue sheets, completely naked, all with a come-hither gaze while beckoning like that…. Well, how could anyone say no to Nathan?

“I, uh, of course not Nate. Seriously, all the begging I did before to spend time with you and it takes the zombie apocalypse for you to say yes? If I had known that I would have threatened to unleash it myself,” Wade joked. Pulling his mask up halfway, Wade eagerly strode across the room to meet Nathan halfway, stopping right in front of his body.

_Offer him a blowjob and tell him he’s pretty,_ Yellow sighed.

**We need to leave, now. Nate wouldn’t offer to spend time with us first, he’d be doing anything but that!**

“Maybe he just missed us a lot too…” Wade muttered, sliding his arms around Nathan’s waist.

“Hmm?” Nate rumbled, which Wade felt as much as he heard the sound. Sighing pleasantly, Wade nuzzled into the left side of Nathan’s neck, inhaling the most pleasant smell in the entire multiverse.

“Nothin’. White is just being annoying n’ Yellow says we should give you a blow job.” Pulling his gloves off, Wade tugged Nathan’s neatly tucked shirt out from his pants. Sliding his hands upwards and pulling off his gloves, Wade toyed with the seam between metal and skin, enjoying the feeling of the sudden transition between the two.

“Well, I love Yellow’s idea,” Nathan murmured, one arm wrapping around Wade’s waist while the other rubbed up and down his back. “Shame about White, though. From what I recall, he’d just gotten to like me, too.”

Keeping his waist held firmly, Nathan tilted Wade’s chin up, leaning in close. Placing one hand one the back of Wade’s head, Nathan pressed their lips together gently. Nate was being gentle and loving, like Wade had always loved…to hate, that is. Yes, love to hate it. All in all, just another perfect moment with mutant Jesus.

Except, Nathan’s lips were a bit… rougher than last time. Probably just not enough chap stick, eh?

One lick over his lips and Wade opened his mouth, just waiting for Nate’s delicious tongue. Slipping his tongue into Wade’s mouth, it tasted like heav-…!

_Ugh, what did Nathan last have in his mouth, rotten food?!_

**That’s exactly what Zombies eat, so yes…. His face… I warned you something was wrong.**

Nathan’s tongue was still dancing with Wade’s own, despite the nasty taste. Wade had been around Cable long enough that he wouldn’t deny any affection Nate gave him, but he saw all too late what White had meant, and all the pieces clicked together:

Providence had been silent. Far too silent considering its inhabitants had been infected with the plague, leaving hundreds, if not thousands, of zombies shambling around. The metal streets and parks had all been clean of movement, easily explainable if you consider that Nathan could have killed them all off. No unusual sounds or light sources. Nothing noticed him traversing the rooftops. Too silent, something he realized all too late.

_I have a favor to ask of you, though, one that just might end this virus for good. Meet me in my room on Providence._ The note, so casually written. If Cable had found a way to end the virus, then the Avengers would have been notified. They would have met at Stark’s safe house or even the place where the X-Men were making their last stand. A cure for such a virulent plague couldn’t be cured by just him and Cable. Nathan knew Wade was in love with him, and had used it against him. Just seeing Nate’s handwriting, his name on that piece of paper; he’d known Wade would throw caution to the wind, disappearing without a word just to find him. Too obvious and too easy to get Wade into this position.

It probably hadn’t taken anything violent to turn Nathan. Everywhere Wade’s hand roamed there was nothing but smooth, hard muscle and metal. Nathan’s face, however, had some necrotized flesh visible on his fleshy side. So **c l e v e r l y** hidden by the darkness. Nathan had hidden himself all the way at the opposite side of the room, sitting in a chair. Wade had crawled in through the balcony, ignoring the fact that he couldn’t entirely see Nathan. Had paid attention to the romantic candle, ignored the fact that this wasn’t Nathan’s usual M.O. Wade had been far too stupid to listen to White’s advice. Love made fools of everyone though, didn’t it?

_“Make sure all of you are careful to avoid being bitten. Beast and I have found out that the infection occurs through the saliva of the corpses. It’s why the bite is so effective and quick. Even a scratch from their teeth and it has you.” Bruce explained, tinkering away with his lab tools._

_“So wait, does this mean I can’t kiss the super-hot zombie ladies, Bruce-y? Cause let’s be honest here, some of them ladies (and guys), still look pretty damn good. Not to mention, this one zombie chick? Totally invited me back for a threesome at her place!” As the other Avengers gagged, or made other noises of disgust, Bruce had turned to look at Wade, a grim expression set on his face._

_“Wade, this plague infects people with their saliva. If even Logan got infected…. No matter what, don’t let their saliva get to you. The cancer makes you more vulnerable than us, what with all the scars and various wounds that come and go on you. Be extremely careful, Wade,” Bruce glanced worriedly at Wade, before motioning to Steve and Tony to come near._

_“All right,” Steve said, offering a forced smile. “Everyone get to your rooms, lock the doors, and don’t leave until morning. That means you too, Wade,” Steve said, still smiling, before he turned to walk to Bruce._

The walk to his room at the Avenger’s safe house had been uneventful. Wade’s doors had been locked and bolted. Wade had been ready to try and fail to sleep, until his boxes had noticed the note, carefully hidden almost all the way under his pillows.

Hugging Nathan tighter to him, Wade pushed back harder into the kiss, past caring about his oncoming damnation. The all too noticeable and disgusting taste had disappeared, leaving Wade wondering if he’d just gotten used to it or if the virus was doing its magic. It didn’t matter at this point.

_I… I’d rather be with Nate than those stingy Avengers anyway…_

**Gives a whole new meaning to “Till death do us part.” Kind of ironic, isn’t it?**

“Nate,” Wade gasped, finally pulling out of the kiss to look up into his eyes. “I missed you so much.” With that said, Wade tangled one hand in Nathan’s hair, trying to push him into another kiss.

“I love you, Wade,” Nathan said, voice as happy and soft as his smile before finally giving in, keeping the pace of the kiss slow and sweet.

**Anyone else notice that the pain we usually feel… is gone?**

Not feeling pain every single moment felt good. For once, he didn’t have to feel anything except Nate’s body against him.

_Ugh…. This… isn’t a good feeling, is it?_

Even the few minutes he’d spent pain free had been amazing, but now Wade could feel his stomach twisting and turning violently. He needed **_food._**

****

……………………

Smiling into the kiss, Nathan finally pulled back. Wade had bit his lips, just enough to taste his own flesh before gagging as the taste hit his tongue.

“Trust me, Wade, zombies don’t taste good. I know, I tried it too,” Nate chuckled, watching Wade try to wipe the taste off on his sleeve. “But I saved fresh food for you. Are you hungry?” Nathan lowered his voice, all but purring the question to Wade.

“ ** _Yes_** , ** _so…”_** One hand wrapped itself around Wade’s stomach while the other held onto Nathan’s TO wrist.

Sliding one hand gently over Wade’s cheek, Nathan turned and opened the door to make for the gym. He’d hoped Wade would remain unturned, at least until he’d gotten to him. The civil war had split them apart, this was true, but he didn’t want to fight Wade. Hadn’t wanted or wished for the divorce. Nathan had wanted Wade **by his side where he belonged.** Wade had been turned without a single shred of violence, his perfect body intact. Cable allowed himself a smug smile, as he paused at the gym door.

“Wade, you know we’ve always belonged together. Now you get to remove the **v e r y  l a s t  o b s t a c l e  t o  t h a t…”** Chuckling darkly, Nathan finally opened the door and flicked on the lights.

The gym had been cleared of all its prior items, leaving the mirrors at the very back reflecting where he and Wade entered. Huddled in the center, back to the mirror, sat Domino. Her legs and hands were bound tightly, a piece of duct tape covering her mouth. Nathan couldn’t help but gently lift his TO arm to playfully nip one of Wade’s fingers, motioning to her with his other hand. As Wade approached, silent and blatantly hungry, Nathan smiled at the terror etched onto Domino’s face. Tears streamed down her face and small whimpering sobs escaped her.

Could he help it if he had always preferred Wade to her?


End file.
